London with a new old love in Summer 2019

First, enjoy life!
Second, this trip you will invest your time most wisely by prebooking admission tickets to planned destinations. We saved gobs of time by taking this advise received by fellow posters.
Third, save time to explore areas via walking. Doing so provided us a more intimate opportunity to learn London.

Hello. I’d like to help again.

What did you and your grown kids see the first time around? What didn’t you see?

Sorry for your loss but pleased you’ve chosen to follow your heart as it heals.

I have absolutely no advice but I'll say the course on British Murder at Oxford looks awesome as does the one on Pirates as well as several in the later weeks. Expensive but they look SO interesting!

I too love Claudia and her knowledge of one of my favourite places. You are lucky to have her to rely on.

I hope your path to happiness after your loss is smooth and pleasant for you.

I had no idea that you could go to Oxford to learn how to murder, and that it would only take a week to learn all that.... 😁

Wow, thanks for mentioning this. I had no idea registration began so early in fall for the next summer. Almost annually, I look, but too late and the programs I like are filled. Now this is on my radar and I will happily plan in advance. I participated in a similar program in the nineties, and those were some of my best vacations!

My must do's in London in summer: the Globe (announcements made in Jan/Feb for the summer season); London Walks. I also like the fabric floor of Liberty and then a gazillion more things to do. Premier Inn County Hall is a great location, but will be more crowded than some. Lately, I try to navigate around the more crowded areas. I recently stayed at No 63 and have enjoyed Lime Tree, too, though not recently. Last trip, I was introduced to the Wallace Collection and spent a dreamy slow morning visiting House of Hackney.

I am sure you will get lots of responses here that will pique your curiosity.

Enjoy and thanks, again.

Dear Claudia, we only had a few days, so we did our Game of Thrones black cab tour of Northern Ireland including Belfast, and 'my' black cab tour the next day of Liverpool for the Beatles (but loved the Anglican cathedral, too), and then in London: stayed just off Fleet Street, saw the Temple Church, all the bridges, the Globe but no play, lots of pubs and the Wolseley (a day that had to have been 10,000 calories but was a ball), the Churchill War Rooms, the loverly gift shops at Buckingham Palace & the Tower, and visited the Tower, the Royal Horseguards, Piccadilly, Westminster, and capped off this with a champagne/evening ride on the Eye. It was quite wonderful - and much of it thanks to your kind advice.
Dear All, but now I will have a week in London with this new love. He is open to any kind of tour (and will tolerate my shopping:). But he in particular loves Churchill. He's never been to London. I would assume we will have a minimum of 5 to 6 full days in London. What would all of you do, including any side trips? And this time, I want to stay in a fine place near Westminster or Kensington. Yes, I definitely want to do at least one London Walk - probably the Jack the Ripper one.

Many thanks to all of you.
Marjie

I know it's tempting to want to See All the Things, but remember that long of a vacation is a marathon and not a sprint and every few days, it's good to have planned down time and block off the schedule with a few hours of 'walk in a nice park and feed the ducks' and greater London is truly a region of some really great parks. And you also get so many daylight hours after dinner that time of year it can be nice to ramble around with the locals taking a post-dinner constitutional at a place like the rose garden in Regent's Park.

If he's a Churchill fan, definitely go back to the War Rooms and give him time to spend in the Churchill section there. Plan at least 3 hours. I'd go early in your trip. I picked up an excellent small guide book in the bookshop there that gives an excellent walking tour of Churchill related WWII sites in London.

There is also a London Walk that is given occasionally called Churchill's Footsteps - London's Finest Hour that he might enjoy. Check next spring to see if one is being given when you are there.

http://www.walks.com/our-walks/in-winston-churchills-footsteps-londons-finest-hour-1

You will be his guide and as you have stated he has a interest in Churchill then by all means a return to the War Rooms is a must.

Given it’s overwhelming popularity following Gary Oldman’s portrayal in The Darkest Hour, book your tickets in advance.

For you both I would suggest the Museum of London which does a stellar job in explaining how London evolved.

I’d also include visiting the Sir John C Ritblatt Gallery (the treasure room) at the British Library. From there it’s a pleasant stroll to an outstanding chain restaurant called Dishoom which I discovered last Fall. It’s off Granary Square which is adjacent to the St Pancras Lock and behind St Pancras Station. That whole area was, pardon my language, crap when I first visited London in the 70’s. It’s evolution over the decades fascinating to me.

If I had all the money in the world I’d be purchasing a condo in the nearby and recently developed Gas Towers complex.

You can also spend time at Churchill’s home
( Chartwell) but double check opening times online. Easy train ride from London Victoria to Oxted. Then a taxi to Chartwell, 5-6 mile away.

Absolutely see some theatre while there. Half price ticket booth in Leicester Square is the place to go.
Their daily offerings are now posted on line making it easier to see what same day tickets are available.

If you are walkers strolling in and around Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens is a lovely way to experience daily London life. If lucky you can find the Horse Guards practicing, or watch the early morning swimmers in the Lido. Good place to get a nosh is the Lido Cafe.

Lots of water fowl, dogs, joggers, nannies with prams, picnickers if weather is nice...it’s a lovely green space. The Serpentine is the delineation line between Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens.

Definitely wander at Portobello Road Market. Go early by 8am to beat the hordes especially on a Saturday.

Brick Lane and Spitafields. Lots of eye candy.

So much to see and do.

Have a marvelous trip.

If you can get your new love to meet you in Oxford you can visit Churchill's birth place and beautiful estate at Blenheim Palace.

I'm just overwhelmed by these replies! Thanks to all of you so very much. I'm going to save them for the itinerary that I must start immediately.
(Claudia - many thanks again for a detailed and very much personalized set of tips! Good idea to book the war rooms in advance.)

We both garden and we both love to walk. The rose garden in Regents' Park sounds quite wonderful.

All of the Churchill advice is quite good - I like the idea of my love meeting me in Oxford.

And yes, the theatre is a must.

A week will go so quickly! We'll just have to go back again soon:)

Thank you.